(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Seoul May 04 - Sales by South Korean automakers rose 8 percent last month from a year earlier helped by demand for newly released models and generally strong overseas sales data showed.
The combined sales of five local car manufacturers including market leader Hyundai Motor Co. reached 802657 vehicles in April up from 743300 units a year ago. The total excludes knockdown kits shipped abroad for assembly.
During the same period domestic sales rose 9.5 percent to 130145 units while overseas sales which count both exports and cars made in foreign countries gained 7.7 percent to 672512 vehicles.
Kia's local sales dipped slightly but the loss was offset by a 11.9 percent surge in overseas sales while GM Korea Co. the local unit of General Motors Co. of the United States did well in South Korea but reported weaker sales in foreign markets.
Hyundai Motor the flagship company of Hyundai Motor Group said domestic sales grew a solid 7.7 percent annually thanks to robust demand for its brand new Sonata and Genesis sedans as well as its SUV lineup.
Kia's domestic sales again dipped 3.8 percent to 39005 vehicles yet overseas sales shot up 11.9 percent on-year to 237300 units.
It said "strategic models" such as the Optima and Forte led overall growth and helped sales move up 9.4 percent to 276305.
For GM Korea new cars such as the Spark Cruze and Malibu diesel pushed up domestic sales by 27.5 percent.
Ssangyong which has done very well in recent months said demand for its Korando C family series of cars remained strong. It added that sales in countries like China soared by 40 percent on-year.
The company's CEO Lee You-il said sales numbers for all key models have been very encouraging and that Ssangyong plans to aggressively enter new markets.
The carmaker's domestic sales rose 17.5 percent on-year to 6010 with exports increasing by 6.9 percent to 7624.
Renault Samsung which had suffered a drop in sales compared to 2013 coming into this year was buoyed by a healthy 15.4 percent increase in sales last month.
It sold 12542 cars overall with domestic sales reaching 6153 units for an increase of 35.7 percent.
It said demand for QM5 and QM3 helped fuel sales in the domestic market. In the export arena QM5 sales were up 24.2 percent.
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